Port Said continues civil disobedience

Egyptians rally on February 17, 2013, closing down government offices and factories in the Suez Canal city of Port Said, as they demand justice for dozens of people killed in clashes with police in late January after a court sentenced 21 soccer fans from the city to death over a deadly football riot last year. AFP PHOTO/STR

Residents of Port Said continued on Monday their civil disobedience for the second day, while military tanks surround key facilities in the governorate.

The protesters began their marches early Monday morning; relatives of those killed in the violent clashes that erupted on 26 January participated in the disobedience, carrying pictures of the dead.

Protesters blocked the entrances of the city preventing migrant workers, the majority workforce in Port Said, from entering the city.

Workers join protesters after closing the gates to the shipyard and hanging a sign against the “murderous regime”.

“The military ruler in Port Said Major General Adel El-Ghadban tried to negotiate with workers to end the disobedience but they refused,” said Mahmoud Qandil, an accountant and one of the protesters.

The march entered the Investment Authority and called on workers to join the disobedience, factories were closed down and workers either joined the marches or went home.

“One of the factory owners fired shots in the air to disperse protesters who responded by pelting the factory with rocks causing minor damages,” Qandil added.

Protesters chanted “as long as Egyptian blood is cheap, down with any president”. They also chanted against the Muslim Brotherhood and the interior ministry.